In case, this is the first time you are hearing about Excel formula wildcards, check out the Using wildcards in Excel VLOOKUP formula tutorial.
So you know about wild cards like * ?, now how would you tell VLOOKUP to ignore them?
Say, you are genuinely interested in looking the value “* Payroll” in a lookup table. What then?
This is exactly the problem faced by Peter in our forum post VLOOKUP and cells with “*” NOT to be interpreted as wildcard
How to deal with wildcard problem?
Of course, you can use one of the three approaches,
- Use formulas that ignore wildcards, like FIND() or = operator
- Replace wildcards with some other symbol (for ex: | or @) and do the lookups
- Or, just use ~ to tell Excel to ignore the wildcards
How to tell VLOOKUP to ignore the wildcards – Video
In this short video, learn how to use the ~ character to nullify the wildcard effect.
You may also watch this video on our YouTube channel.
Download the example workbook
Click here to download the example workbook for this video. Play with the data and formulas to learn more.
Other creative ways to lookup
Here at Chandoo.org, I am always on the lookup for crazy, fun & creative lookup problems. Check out these examples to one up your lookup quotient.
- Case sensitive lookups
- Pricing tier lookup
- Range lookup – find out which min max range has the value you want to lookup
- Lookup the first non blank value
- 2 way lookup – lookup both row & column values
- 3D lookup the maximum value
- Ultimate lookup trick – multi-condition lookup
What is your wildest lookup challenge?
Ever had a wild time with lookups? Late nights with naughty data, nasty lookups and ninth cup of coffee? Please share your crazy lookup experiences, tips and stories in the comments section.
9 Responses to “CP044: My first dashboard was a failure!!!”
CONGRATS on the book!
Thanks for this podcast. It's great to hear about your disaster and recovery. It's a reminder that we're all human. None of this skill came easily.
Thank you Oz. I believe that we learn most by analyzing our mistakes.
Hey chandoo
this really a good lesson learned
but as I have already stated in one of my previous email that it would be more helpful for us if you could release videos of your classes for us
thanks
The article gave me motivation, especially you describing the terrible disaster that you faced but how to get back from the setbacks. Thanks for that, but with video this will be more fun.
Hi Nafi,
Thanks for your comments. Please note that this is (and will be) audio podcast. For videos, I suggest subscribing to our YouTube channel. No point listening to audio and saying its not video.
You always motivate me with respect of the tools in excel. How we can really exploit it to the fullest. Thanks very much
Thank you Amankwah... 🙂
Thank you very much, Chandoo, for your excellent lessons, I am anxious to learn so valuable tips and tricks from you, keep up the great job!
I truly appreciate the transcripts of the podcasts, because as a speaker of English as a second language, it allows me to fully understand the material. It'd be great if you can add transcripts to your online courses too, I am sure people will welcome this feature.
Dashboards for Excel has arrived in Laguna Beach, CA! Thanks!
Now I need to make time to "learn and inwardly digest" its contents as one of my high school teachers would admonish us!